I'm at a situation where I get to start all over with my home theater setup after a few years away.

The room I will place the equipment will force me to have the cough pretty much close to the rear wall
I am pondering about either get a preused highend reciever and use a standard 5.1 setup vs buying a lowerend modern reciever for example the sony 1080 and setup a 5.1.2 atmos using either upfire fronts or 2 ceiling speakers

I will only use streaming services and upmixing with Dolby Surround.
Is atmos really such an improvement or would a solid 5.1 setup with a highend older receiver be the way to go ?

Picture or upscaling is not as important, I don't even have a 4k tv at the moment.

If you go for Atmos, get in/on ceiling speakers. The effect is so much better compared to up firing (which I currently own).
Please note, unless you use a lot of Netflix (and there also only just the Netflix productions, with some exceptions) or 4k Blu-rays, there isn't that much Atmos content. There are also some games supporting it, but the list is very short. Of course the AVR should be able to up mix to Atmos which sounds nice in most cases.

Atmos/DTS-X is not a gimmick and even those sources that does not have an Atmos/DTS-X mix will sound better upmixed. I actually prefer DTS-X upmixing more the DSU. The difference is substantial but the effect is not as great when only doing 2 height speakers. 5.x.4 is the way to go. The couch on the back of the wall is kinda a bummer but you will still get good effect with 4 height speakers.

You will find alot of great affordable options by only needing 9 speakers vs. 11.

Is atmos really such an improvement or would a solid 5.1 setup with a highend older receiver be the way to go ?

The main improvement is turning a 2D ring of sound into a 3D bubble of sound. If you can tell the difference between sounds coming from around you versus sounds coming from above you, then Atmos will be worth it for you.

Thanks guys, I will be getting a newer receiver from the way you describe it.
Since I will be 100% watching movies and no 2 channel at all, going with a "weaker" new receiver will probably be the best option in regards of value.

I solved my 7.1.4 system with a Denon X4300H (which is an 11 channel but "only" 9 amplifier) AVR. I then added a second, cheap amp, with which I amplify the missing 2 channels. This is WAY cheaper than an 11 channel amplifier.

Thanks guys, I will be getting a newer receiver from the way you describe it.

Since I will be 100% watching movies and no 2 channel at all, going with a "weaker" new receiver will probably be the best option in regards of value.

Something you should think about for the future is a receiver that has pre-outs. Unfortunately that tends to be offered in middle tier models. I still think it’s a good investment as you may want to get an external amp to offload the avr.

Something you should think about for the future is a receiver that has pre-outs. Unfortunately that tends to be offered in middle tier models. I still think it’s a good investment as you may want to get an external amp to offload the avr.

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Agreed. I first got an onkyo but it had no preouts so I went with a pioneer elite vsx lx504 and I'm running amps on all my channels. I have a 6 channel and 3 2 channel amps!

Thanks guys, I will be getting a newer receiver from the way you describe it.
Since I will be 100% watching movies and no 2 channel at all, going with a "weaker" new receiver will probably be the best option in regards of value.

The new 2019 Denon AVR X3600H is the lowest Denon AVR that can support 9CH processing on board (eg. 5.1.2 + Zone 2 or 5.1.4 or 7.1.2; and 11CH with 2CH external amp) with a full set of 11 main zone pre-outs. This is the first year that 9CH support has dropped down from the X4000 series to the X3000 series.

The new 2019 Denon AVR X3600H is the lowest Denon AVR that can support 9CH processing on board (eg. 5.1.2 + Zone 2 or 5.1.4 or 7.1.2; and 11CH with 2CH external amp) with a full set of 11 main zone pre-outs. This is the first year that 9CH support has dropped down from the X4000 series to the X3000 series.